Do You love Sir Harry Pearce?
by oldmule
Summary: Questions are been asked at the Inquiry that can not remain unanswered.
1. Chapter 1

**Pst S9. The Inquiry is about to conclude.**

* * *

><p>"Do you love Sir Harry Pearce?"<p>

"There is a lot between us."

"Do you love him?"

"I am very close to him."

"Do you love him?"

"I would, and indeed I have given up everything for him because I believe in what he represents."

"Miss Evershed, it is a simple question. Please do us the justice of a simple answer. Do you love Harry Pearce?"

"May I ask if my answer will influence your decision?"

"You may not."

"Well….I…."

"But I can tell you that whatever you say now it is probably too late to change the result of this inquiry."

"Yes."

"You love him?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Miss Evershed."

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><p>"How was it, Ruth?"<p>

"Not good. They've made up their mind."

"You saw Harry, though?"

"No_."_

"But he must have been there."

"No, Dimitri, he wasn't there."

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><p>"Sir Harry, we have heard various statements, including your own. I think we now understand the events that took place in Berlin, Bonn and Moscow. What we need to comprehend before we finally rule on this Inquiry is the situation as it stands with your senior analyst Ruth Evershed and the nature of your personal relationship."<p>

"There is no situation to understand. There is no personal relationship."

"There isn't?"

"No, sir there is not."

"You were protecting the life of a colleague, over and above the value of Albany, is that right Harry?"

"Yes, Home Secretary it is."

"And is she a valuable colleague?"

"Very valuable."

"Why so?"

"She is the most insightful, instinctive, forward thinking analyst I have ever known. The difference she makes to Section D is invaluable."

"Do you love her, Harry?"

"Home Secretary, surely I can admire her without you jumping to such conclusions."

"But do you love her?"

"She is …"

"Harry, do you love her?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then it must have influenced your decisions to save her?"

"Was I willing to sacrifice a superb officer for something that did not work? No, I don't believe I was."

"Or was it simply that you were not willing to let the woman you love die?"

"That must be a conclusion for you to reach, Home Secretary. Fortunately I never had to choose between the consequences of relinquishing the real Albany for Ruth and I am truly thankful for that. But whatever I chose, it was not to win her heart or affections because my feelings were not reciprocated."

"That's strange because that's not what she said."

"She didn't?"

"No she told us that she loved you."

"She did!"

"Yes, Harry, she did."


	2. Chapter 2

**Having fanfic probs so apologies if you've had bogus alerts and so forth!**

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><p>"Harry!"<p>

"Your powers of deduction are particularly sharp today, Dimitri."

"You're back!"

"As are your skills at stating the patently obvious."

"But we thought…"

"What, that you'd got rid of me?'

"No, god no."

"God had little to do with it, Dimitri. Now, where's Ruth?"

"Ruth?"

"Yes, Ruth…short, brunette, blue eyes. I presume she hasn't left, or defected in the last couple of weeks?"

"She's in the registry, I think."

"Get her. Now."

"Okay, Harry…and by the way, it's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back."

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><p>"Harry!"<p>

"Ruth."

"You're…."

"Still in a job?"

"Yes, but…"

"I don't really know how either, Ruth, but, yes… I'm here."

"I'm glad."

"Are you?"

"Yes, Harry. I'm glad it's over."

"You're not the only one. Though at moments it was rather… instructive."

"Not quite the terminology I would have expected you to use."

"No. well, sometimes it takes something extreme to make things seem clearer."

"Harry…I need to…"

"Come to dinner with me."

"return these files ….What?"

"Come to dinner with me, Ruth. Tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Eight o'clock. I'll pick you up."

"No."

"Ruth, please."

"No, I don't mean no…I mean I'll meet you there."

"Oh, right. Good."

"Yes."

Tonight then, Ruth."

"Yes, Harry… tonight."


	3. Chapter 3

**Tried to continue this dialogue only but had to succumb to a couple of lines of descriptive stuff! Hope it still all works.**

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><p>"Hi."<p>

"Hi."

"Interesting choice."

"Well, it seems to work in Paris, Ruth."

"I'm not sure cruising along the Thames having dinner is quite the same as the Seine."

"For the moment I'm afraid it's the best that I can do."

"I'm sure it'll be lovely, Harry."

"I hope so."

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><p>"That was delicious, though I'm not sure I could possibly face a dessert."<p>

"Good then we'll have a pause, Ruth."

"And watch the world go by."

"Yes, let's do that. Shall we step outside?"

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><p>"It's quite relaxing really, watching the lights and the landmarks slide by."<p>

"I thought for a while, during the Inquiry, that I'd have to leave here, the service, the city… everything I cared about."

"But you don't, Harry."

"No. I don't. But it made me realise how it must have been for you."

"You persuade yourself that you'll be fine, that you'll soon adapt to another life, another place but there are always things that you never forget."

"What did you miss most, Ruth? People or places?"

"… People."

"I think I would have missed … people most, too."

"Thanks to somebody on the Inquiry you don't have to."

"I think it was the HS."

"Yes, I suspect you're right Harry."

"He said you had testified."

"Yes."

"He said it had helped."

"I hope so."

"He said you loved me."

"He what?"

"You love me, Ruth."

"Well, I …I…"

"Do you love me, Ruth?"

She turns away, startled, unprepared and then she realises.

"That's why you picked dinner here."

He looks across at the shore.

"I thought it might help if you had nowhere to run to and we could finally sort this out."

"Sort this out!"

"You know what I…"

"What am I, some kind of problem, something that needs resolving?"

"Yes, Ruth, yes actually, you are a problem. _My_ problem. And _we_ need resolving. You love me. You told the whole bloody committee, so why, Ruth, why can't you tell me?"

"It's possible to love somebody without doing anything about it, especially when it's so complicated."

"It's not complicated!"

"But there's so much in the past, Harry…."

"There is no past. There is here and now. There's a man standing before you who adores you, who wants nothing more from his life, than you. How simple can it be, Ruth?"

"I know but…"

"When you sailed away, did you love me?"

"Yes."

"Standing here now, do you love me?"

"Yes."

"Marry me, Ruth…say yes, come on, you're on a roll. It's easy. Here under the stars, on the river, say yes."

"I…."

"A thousand times you said you'd say yes and I picked the one time it was a 'no'. This time say 'yes', Ruth."

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes."

"Do you mean it?"

"Yes, Harry, I mean it."

"You're not just trying to shut me up, get back to your dessert and then disembark as soon as possible?"

"No, though the sweet is suddenly very tempting."

"More tempting than me?"

"Errmm…."

"I'll show you tempting Ruth. How's this for tempting...or this…..or does this, right here…. tempt you more."

"Harry, please stop."

"Ruth, I'm sorry…I thought…"

"You thought right and it is tempting, far too tempting for a public place, now could we go back inside, finish our dinner and then you can continue your powers of persuasion somewhere a little more private?"

"Only if you tell me you love me."

"Later, Harry. I promise that I'll tell you and I'll show you…but later."

"Ruth."

"Yes."

"You don't need to tell me, showing me will be fine."


	4. Epilogue

**Small epilogue to finish this off.**

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><p>"Tea?"<p>

"For me, thank you."

"Coffee?"

"Yes, thanks and could we please have the bill?"

"Of course."

"Harry, have you thought about this?"

"I'm paying Ruth, no argument."

"No. Not the bill. Marriage."

"Oh."

"Well, have you?"

"Yes…incessantly."

"About where we'll live, if we'll keep working, how it will affect the decisions we make…?"

"Well….no, actually."

"I thought you said incessantly?"

"I did, but I was think about the benefits of being with you rather than the practicalities."

"The benefits?"

"Yes, Ruth, the benefits…you know."

"I think I can guess."

"But what about the practicalities, Harry?"

"Bugger the practicalites! Oh, don't look at me like that Ruth. We'll work it out as we go along. The most important thing right now is that you love me. Did I mention that?

"Yes, several times."

"And you're going to show me you love me, or you would if the waiter ever brings the bloody bill."

"You know what, I'm beginning to think you've got a one track mind."

"Me. Ruth? No, I can assure you that my mind is working on several tracks at the moment."

"And do any of them extend beyond the next couple of hours?"

"Oh, yes. They extend all the way to tomorrow morning."

"Your bill, sir."


End file.
